Spirit Bound A new Beginning
by SammiiTee
Summary: DISCONTINUED. What happens if Rose chooses to side with Dimitri? Will she? Will he choose her? Or will she save him? Rated T for language and mild violence. This is my version of Spirit Bound what may happen .
1. Chapter 1

**Spirit Bound Fan fiction**

_Chapter 1_

"Rose!"

"What? Uhh…" I looked up to see Stan looming over me. Urgh. Is this man out to get me or something? Ever since I came back to the Academy (the first time), he has been on my case.

"Exactly, listen! Class is not for sleeping, it's for learning."

"I know, it's just…it's—"

"What is it? You getting drunk last night and not being able to focus because you went to sleep at god knows what time?"

To be honest, I don't remember what happened last night. All I can recall is getting up in the middle of the day (since that's when we sleep) and heading to the cafeteria and looking for something to drink.

"Um" I didn't know what to say. Usually I would pull the old Rose Hathaway joke or smartass comment but now, well now I wasn't in the mood.

Or is it the fact that for once, a topic _isn't _about you or Belikov?" He smiled at the last word. "Tell us Hathaway, we want to know." He gestured toward the class.

Ouch. He had touched a sensitive topic. By now, basically the whole academy knows about Dimitri and me. I don't know how they found out (probably Stan not being able to keep his big mouth shut), but it is embarrassing. I don't want everyone knowing my personal life, especially if it involves a _former _mentor. It was hard enough telling Lissa, my best friend, let alone having the whole school know about it and ask questions about it. Seriously, don't they have better things to do than ask questions like 'Did he like you back' or 'Did you act on your feelings'.

Stan got me frustrated with that last question. I stood up "No, I'm not sleeping in your class because you're not talking about me or Dim—Belikov! Hell, if you _were_ talking about it, I would fall asleep. I'm sick of hearing about it! I've been back for like a month now, and you still can't get over it! I'm doing a better job at forgetting about the whole thing, than you or everyone!" I lied. I'm still struggling with the idea that Dimitri is still out there, killing innocent people. Struggling about the fact that he is coming for me… not to turn me into a Strigoi, no, this time he wants to kill me. Well, I would prefer that over becoming a monster.

"Believe me Hathaway, we are over it. It's you who isn't. Don't you think we've noticed your change in behaviour? You waking up and wandering around, drinking, ignoring others, keeping to yourself all the time—"

I laughed a mockingly, "You think I do these things because of _that_? No, I do it because, well, because…" The image of the bridge came back to me. How I jumped off and how Dimitri caught me in a flash. How the look in his eyes were so, so close to his old self. His voice when he was telling me to get away from the edge. How he'd said '_That's what I was supposed to say'_. I kept repeating the words in my head. Was he going tell me that he loved me? No, I can't keep thinking about what _happened. _I need to start thinking about what _will _happen.

"Hello, miss Hathaway?"

The thoughts disappeared as I came back to reality. "Uh, yeah?"

"What was it that you were saying? Oh yes, you're _not _acting up because of Belikov? Then why, you were about to tell us. We are so very interested."

I took a deep breath, trying to control what's becoming anger. "It's just because I'm about to graduate and I need not to care that much anymore. I mean, there's less than a month to go and I need my catch up on fun." I gave him a mocking smile which seemed to piss him off more.

He looked as if he were to say something else that would get me very pissed, so I beat him to it. The old Rose kicked in. "Oh, and if you want to know why I sleep in your class, ok, I'll tell you. You bore me Stan, very much. You always have and I just can't take anymore of your old annoying voice. And since graduation is around the corner, I think hey, what's the point. So there it is Stan, I told you, if you want me awake well then, why don't you just shut your big mouth."

Stan was shocked. He didn't expect any of that; I could see it in his face. He walked back to his desk and got out a piece of paper, wrote something on it and handed it to me. "To the head office… now."

I took the paper, and walked out of the room, giggling. Does he really think, I'll go to the head office? HA! Instead I went to the back of the academy. It was cold tonight and I couldn't help but shiver a little.

I found a small bench and went to sit down. I came here quite often to think. No one came around here, so I thought that it would be a good place for alone time. The main reason I came here though, was because I can see the path that leads to the cabin. It brings back nice, warming memories. They were the memories I didn't mind coming back to, but they still pained me. It hurt to know that something like what happened in the cabin will never happen again. Well it _may _happen again. But that involves doing the unthinkable.

When I had been in Siberia, I was told that there was a fairytale about being able to turn a Strigoi back to its normal self. The only problem was that the person who says this is god knows where. His name is Robert Dashkov, brother of Victor Dashkov. Victor is a horrible man. He kidnapped Lissa and tortured her until she used her healing powers to heal him of a disease that was killing him. He then made his own daughter turn Strigoi, who was killed anyway… by Dimitri. Now, Victor is locked up for a long, long time. Lissa and I were there for the trial. She had been so worried if he wasn't found guilty, I could feel her emotions and they were strong, very strong. If she were to find out that I'd have to _break him out of prison, _she'd be devastated. But, I'm going to have to tell her. She said she wants to come with me whenever I go do some outrageous quests. This was one of them but I just don't know how she'd react.

But, what if, what if Victor agrees to take us to his brother Robert, who will tell us how to reverse the curse of Strigoi. Dimitri would be cured; I would have my prince back. He'll have his dark brown eyes again, the tanned skin…his soul. Man, this last month is taking a hell of a long time.

"Rose?"

Startled, I turned around to find Adrian standing there with a folder in his hand. "Oh, hi Adrian, I didn't see you there." Well obviously, he was standing _behind_ me. And, he hadn't called me his little Dhampir, which was a little weird. Was there something wrong?

"I have something for you." He said as he came to sit next to me and handed me the folder.

"What is it?" I asked, curious. I hoped it wasn't any mail…from Russia. I opened it and to my relief, it wasn't.

"You have to read it to find out." He replied with a smile. He seemed so…different. Ever since I came back, he's been kind and sweet. It was nothing like him.

There were papers stapled together and on the first page it said 'Homework, given to me by Rose Hathaway' _Huh? _I thought as I flipped one page. "Oh." I said out loud accidentally.

"What?" Adrian asked in a worried tone. "Isn't it good?"

I had completely forgotten. I told Adrian that he had to write an essay as to why I should go out with him. Damn. I can't tell him I forgot, it would make him feel bad. I started reading it. I couldn't believe what I was reading; it was all so formal, nothing like the Adrian I'm used to.

"It's good, it's just…" I couldn't find the words. "Unexpected." I finally said.

"Unexpected?"

"Well I didn't think you'd actually write it, that's all."

"Oh." Was all he had said.

I felt his hopes coming down. No, I couldn't let that happen. I've hurt a lot of people in the last few months, I can't do it again. I turned to face his curious eyes and smiled. For the first time in my days of knowing Adrian, he was… shy. Shy? No, he couldn't be, it was _Adrian_.

He looked away, that's how I knew. We sat in silence for a few minutes. I finally spoke. "I tell you what, because you actually did this essay, I'll give it a shot."

He looked up at me, his eyes filling with joy, "You serious?"

I smiled, "Yeah, except—"

"Except…"

"I want you to be the Adrian I know; the one that isn't shy, and quiet. Because that's the one that impresses me and that's the one I'd like to give it a go with." I hoped I found the right words.

He smiled a warm smile at me, "Deal." He got up, and looked back to me, "I have to go, people will wonder where I am, because well, look at me." He smiled a teasing smile which I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Okay." I replied a little disappointed. I enjoyed his company.

"I'll see you around, my little Dhampir." And with that, he was gone. I was alone again.

I was a little proud of myself. I managed to move on, I think. A cool breeze picked up and I shivered, wrapping myself with my arms. All I had on was a t-shirt and jeans. Great. Why didn't I have my jumper today?

I looked down to my watch. Crap. I had been out here for nearly 30 minutes. But it wouldn't hurt if I stayed a little longer. So I just sat there, thinking of different things like how graduation will be, if Victor will agree to help us, what would happen if Dimitri found me before I found out the cure.

I sighed, "Dimitri" I whispered, a small tear rolling down my cheek. I stared into the trees surrounding the academy. Am I cheating on him by trying to make it work with Adrian? Oh god, what if I am? Wait. What am I thinking? I can't be cheating, can I? I don't know. I went to Siberia to kill him, not to break up with him…. What if I am two timing him. Urgh. Why does it have to be so difficult?

"Roza", came a voice from the trees.

I stood up, looking around. 'What?' I thought. "No…"

"Roza", the familiar voice said again.

I looked forward, and couldn't help but move in the direction the voice was coming from. "Dimitri?" I asked getting closer to the source.

"Roza". The voice moved from the trees and onto the path that led to the cabin.

That one word was full of kindness and love. And I was being pulled towards it, literally. I couldn't stop myself. The path was longer than I thought I was. I haven't walked down it in a while. I followed the voice and let that pressure pull me to where ever it was taking me.

I stopped when I realised where I had been taken. The cabin. I was so confused, why had I been taken _here_?

"Roza, do you remember?" Asked the voice with such love.

"Yes," I replied, tears of joy filling my eyes. My Dimitri was back. "Yes I do, I'll never forget."

"Then why?"

"Why what?" I asked, confused.

"Why are you dating _him_?" The voice answered, full of hurt.

"I'm, I'm not." I replied, feeling guilty.

"You're giving him a _shot._" It was a mocking tone then it changed to frustration, disappointment and sadness. "Why did you betray me Rose? I thought you loved me? I thought you wanted to help me?"

"I will help you, I'm doing my best."

"Are you now? How is hanging around this place helping me?"

"I'm just going to graduate, I promised I will. Then I'll do whatever it takes to save you."

"_Save _me?" Asked the voice, surprised.

"Well yeah—"

"I never asked to be saved. I need help and the only way I can get it, is if you joined me. If you really love me, you'll do it. I thought you loved me Roza. We could be together forever."

"What?" I asked, stunned. "Is it you Dimitri?" My prince had vanished.

"Who else do you think it is?" He replied as if it were the stupidest question. "Roza, come with me, I want you, I'll always be with you."

"No." I answered shakily as I started backing towards the school.

"Roza…" It wasn't filled with love anymore.

"NO! NO! I won't join you, I won't be a monster!"

And with that, I started running back towards the school. Dimtiri's voice was still there, calling me. Then, all of a sudden he was there, in front of me. I halted to a stop. "What do you want from me?" I yelled.

He held out his arms, "you." He simply said.

That saddened me. He only _wanted _me like a pet or whatever; he never said he _loved _me.

"No!" I yelled, "I don't want you, so leave me alone, let me move on. You're not the same, you never will be! I'll try to _save_ you but if I can't, then I'll kill you."

I ran forward, as if to push him out of my way, but as I did, I went right through him. 'What?' I thought. Was he a hallucination? Doesn't matter, I just had to keep running. The only problem was that when I tried, he'd appear either in front of me or beside me which caused me to stumble. I tried my best ignoring it, but I failed, he'd always be there.

"C'mon Rose!" I yelled to myself. I ran, ran so hard that my feet were screaming at me, telling me to stop. Why would I listen to my feet now? It was a life or death situation. Was it? I couldn't think now, I just had to run.

I'd been running for what seemed to be ages, but I finally saw the schools' walls. "Yes." I said to myself, "Just a little more, you can do it." I ran, and ran, until I finally reached the school but instead of stopping at the bench I ran to the courtyard and towards the Novice's dorms. I got in the building, ran up the stairs, taking every second step to get to my floor. Once reaching my room, I kicked the door open, breaking the lock in the process and slammed it shut. I leaned against the closed door and slid down, bringing my knees to my face. I felt safe, for now.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's chapter two, hope you enjoy it :)

And again, all characters and settings belong to Richelle Mead. Thank her for thinking of such a great story :)

_Chapter 2_

My bed was more comfortable than I thought it would have been. As I snuggled up in the covers, I couldn't help but think about what just happened. Was that all a hallucination? I don't know. It all seemed so real, yet, as I tried pushing past Dimirti, I went straight through him. Urgh. This just makes my life a lot more difficult. Like I need that.

I started to drift off, when I heard a knock at the door. I got up, groaning, why can't I just be in peace? "Who is it?"

"It's me."

"Gee, that helps. Fine 'me', I don't want to talk right now." I said as I started lying down again.

"Rose, it's Lissa. I'm worried about you. You didn't show up at lunch."

Crap. I forgot that it was still class. Oh well, I'll just work harder tomorrow. "Ok," I finally said, getting up again. "You can come in."

"Isn't the door locked?" She asked.

"The lock…uh, kinda broke."

Lissa slowly came inside and closed the door behind her. Once she saw my face, she looked frightened. "Rose! Rose what happened? Oh god."

"What?" I asked confused.

"Your…face…it's"

What was she going on about? I didn't listen to what she was going to say next because I went straight to the bathroom and saw bruises all over my face. _What the hell? _I thought as I examined them. They were fresh and purple with bits of blue and yellow. _How did this happen?_ "Oh shit."

"Rose?" Asked Lissa, peering inside. "Are you alright? I can go get help if you want."

"No, I don't want any help. And I'm fine, seriously. I don't know how I got these."

Lissa walked in this time. "Rose, I said that I want to help you, let me heal it, it'll be a piece of cake—"

"No, Lissa. I can take care of myself. Please, let me figure this out." I replied with frustration. I walked back into the main room and sat on the bed, thinking. Could it be those hallucinations? But how can hallucinations give such terrible bruises? Bruises that didn't hurt.

I looked down, and saw my hands; they too were covered in purple, blue and yellow mixed bruises. Crap. I shook my hands, hoping that the bruises would go away. To my surprise, they did. What?

I walked back into the bathroom, and looked at my reflection. To my surprise, the bruises were gone on my face as well. Lissa, too, looked into the mirror and had a similar reaction.

"They're… they're gone. Rose, I'm worried, please tell me what's going on. I want to help. And don't tell me you're fine, because I know you're not. We're best friends. You can tell me anything you know that." She said, now looking at me and not my reflection.

I sighed. She was right. I needed to talk to someone, and what better person than my best friend. "Alright, I'll tell you."

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief; I felt it through the bond. She walked out of the bathroom and sat on the floor, ready for me to join. It looked as if we were about to gossip.

I came and sat next to her, leaning on my bed. "You want it long and boring or short and simple?"

"I want the truth, Rose. I don't care if it takes three minutes or three hours." That was all she said.

"Well…basically…" I couldn't find the right words. "I think I saw Dimitri tonight."

"What?"

"I _think _I saw him. I don't know. I heard his voice, calling me and leading me into the forest. It was _his _voice, Liss."

"His voice?" Lissa asked, clearly shocked and confused. She tried hiding it but the bond gave it away.

"The voice he had when he was a Dhampir." I simply said, and she understood.

"Earlier, I agreed to give it a shot with Adrian." I told her.

"Really?" she asked with excitement. Why was she excited? This wasn't the time.

"Yeah," I said, not wanting to show my guilt for it. "I decided that I should move on, it will help me." I hoped.

"Oh, Rose it will, I'm so happy for you." She said, clearly forgetting about everything else.

"Dimitri, or the hallucination, or whatever it was, said I forgot about him. That I forgot about helping him, and made it seem that I was cheating on him." I said.

"Oh." The excitement had vanished. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"He said that the only way I could help was if I joined him."

"Join, as in become Strigoi." She finished.

"Yes."

"What did you say?" She asked warily, becoming concerned whether or not I'd agreed.

"Lissa! You know that I rejected it, don't you? You don't think I'll join him do you?"

"Of course I know you wouldn't but Rose, you nearly did once."

I sighed. I didn't want to be reminded of my blood whore days and how out of it I had gotten. Honestly though, I kind of missed being high and happy all the time. All my problems had vanished and all I had to think of was being with Dimitri and dressing up. Wait, what? How could I think that?

"Yeah, _nearly _but even being so out of it, I still had the common sense and said no. It nearly got me killed, but like I said before, I'd rather die than become a monster."

"That was smart of you. I just don't understand why you _let _him bite you." She said with curiosity.

"Honestly, I don't know why either. I guess it just reminded me when we were together before he was…awakened."

She gave me a look of confusion and through the bond, I got the message. "Oh, no! No! We didn't do any of _that _before the you know…turning." I didn't like talking about how Dimitri was turned into a Strigoi without choice. I felt sorry for him, really. He had told me over and over again in Siberia how he loved being _free _and breaking the rules. He doesn't have a clue about what he's lost and that's why I feel sorry for him. "I guess, I saw some happiness in him when he was doing it, and I wanted to get to that part of him, if he had any of his old self left in him."

"Did he? Did he show affection?" She asked, curious. It reminded me of when I was asking him questions while stalling. It was interesting, you have to admit.

"Kinda. If you looked really deep into his eyes, you could see a tiny bit of affection. But that was rare." I sighed; Dimitri had really become a monster. "But when he was holding the ring Oksana gave me, the one full of spirit, that's when a lot of his old self came back. I started talking about his family and he cared, really cared. It was so weird."

"Maybe it was the spirit?"

"Maybe." I was getting too close to the topic of the whole 'fairytale' thing. I wasn't ready to tell Lissa that yet. I wanted to change topics. "How is it going with Christian?"

"Oh, uh…" She couldn't meet my eyes. I felt her hurting through the bond. Damn. Why had I asked that?

"Not that good." She admitted, which surprised me. I thought that she'd just brush it off. I would understand if she did.

"Really?" I asked, I didn't know what else to say. It was bad, I couldn't disagree to that.

"Yeah. He'll barely look at me and when he does, he seems so distant. I've lost him Rose, he hates me." She said, tears sliding down her face.

"He doesn't hate you, Liss. Don't worry he'll come around. Just be yourself, it worked the first time."

"Rose, I've tried everything, he won't budge. I can't lose him." She put her face in her hands. "I can't lose him." She repeated.

I know what she wanted me to do. She wanted me to talk to him and I didn't need the bond to know that. I sighed "Boys ey, they just make our life difficult."

She smiled a little, "you're right about that."

"I'll try talking to him." I told her.

"Thank you." Was all she said.

For about the next hour or so, we just talked. And not about Dimitri or Christian or anything along those lines. It was random things, like graduation, make up, fashion, or even the queen's secret lover. We laughed at that. How can someone so hot like him go for an old bitch like her? Seriously, he must have standards.

"Oh, no!" I said suddenly.

Lissa got worried, "What?"

"I just realised, if everything works out with Adrian, _she _could end up being family." I shuddered at the thought.

Lissa laughed at this and I shot her a look of 'this is so not funny.' But seriously, it was. I couldn't imagine someone like the queen having anyone in her family like, well, _me_. We sat there laughing and having a good time; something we're not used to.

Looking up at the clock on the wall, I realised what the time was. Crap. It was nearly dinner. "Wow, when you're actually having fun, time flies." I said as I got up and stretched.

"Yep," Agreed Lissa as she too got up. "I should get going; I need to look my best for dinner."

"Why?"

"I need to impress a certain someone."

"Lissa, I told you. Be you and everything will work out."

She smiled, "This _is _me." And with that she was out the door. I heard her yell from the corridor "See you at dinner!"

I was alone again. I didn't like it. I really enjoyed those last few hours, it was nice. I sat on the bed thinking of how I could get myself occupied. "Hey," I said, finally thinking of something. "I could fix the lock." I told myself. I looked at the time, 45 minutes until dinner. I could work.

I _tried _fixing it but failed…miserably. "Urgh. Why won't the stupid thing stick?" Maybe because I was using glue to stick on a door lock. I laughed at myself. Since when had I become such a blonde? First the whole Adrian behind me thing and now this? I laughed more. 'Okay,' I thought, 'how about I get ready for dinner.' That seemed like a plan.

"Hmmm," I said as I stared at myself in the mirror. "Wavy or straight?" I chose straight, so I got out the straightener and set it on the right temperature. I left the bathroom to find something to wear while it was heating up. I found a pair of black skinny jeans that I thought I'd lost and a red singlet. 'Cute,' I thought as I was pulling on the pants.

"Yes." I said when I managed to put them on. They fit. I put on the singlet and went back to the bathroom to straighten my hair. I took out the brush and was about to brush out the knots in my messy hair when I saw my reflection. The brush fell out of my hands.

I couldn't believe what I saw…again. The bruises. There they were; it was as if they never disappeared. I studied them, they looked so…painful but they weren't. I felt completely normal.

I realised there wouldn't be much time on panicking, so I opened the draw to find the closest colour foundation to my skin. Of course it was at the very back and very bottom of everything. "There you are" I said once I'd found it.

Looking back to the mirror, I saw that the bruises were gone. "What the hell." I said as I put the foundation back but soon took it again. I put some on, just in case. I grabbed my brush, brushed my hair, straightened it and once I was happy with the result, I turned off the straightener and left it out to cool down. I quickly added a little eyeliner and mascara, put on some shoes and headed out the door; only to head back in. It was cold tonight and I needed a jacket. I grabbed the first black one I found and went to dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

_Well here is chapter 3. Hope you enjoy!_

_And again, all characters and settings belong to Richelle Mead!_

_Chapter 3_

Dinner was…different. We were all there: Lissa, Christian, Eddie, Adrian and I, but we all were in our own worlds. Hardly anyone said anything. I decided I was going to start conversation; surely there must be something to talk about.

"So how was school today?" I asked, the question not directed to anyone in particular.

"Um, weren't you just there?" Christian answered with a question that made mine sound like it was the dumbest question anyone could have asked. He kept looking down at his half empty plate playing with the potatoes. He really didn't want to make any sort of eye contact with Lissa…at all.

"Something…came up." I said, looking at Lissa.

Wow. Everyone was so distant today. It annoyed me. "Okay, everyone, what's up? Why are you so antisocial?"

Christian kept looking down at his plate, while the others looked at me.

"What do you mean?" Asked Adrian, confused as if he was just blabbing on about something. Eddie gave me a similar look and Lissa was just…sad.

"What do I mean? I _mean, _why anyone isn't talking, having a good time. Can't we for once, just enjoy ourselves? Is that so hard?"

"We tried," Said Christian unexpectedly, "and look where it got us."

Christian was really bugging me. Why was he being such an ass? Ever since he and Lissa had been taking a 'break', he's become his old obnoxious self.

His comment embarrassed Lissa; I felt it through the bond. I turned to her, and saw her going red, looking down to her plate. She was so ashamed of herself for what she did. Well, what she was _made _to do.

While I was away, Lissa had become friends with Avery. Avery had told Lissa that she was an air user. The thing is, she was actually a spirit user. One that went crazy. Avery made Lissa do crazy things _including _kissing Aaron. She was then planning to kill Lissa, and bound her to herself. She was already bound to two other people-her brother and guardian. She was going to be bound to a third, but with Oksanas' help, I managed to get into Lissa's head and _tell _her what to do. Lissa managed to throw a punch. I was still proud of her for that. That's when we realised that being bound to more than one person can make you crazy.

"That was because of Avery's compulsion use, Christian." I said, with frustration. He was being so mean to Lissa.

"It wasn't just that, Rose. Some of it wasn't compulsion. What would you know anyway, you weren't _here _were you? You just ran off, who knows where and abandoned the rest of us. Smooth." He looked up from his plate and set his eyes on me. The look he gave me wasn't kind at all. "You think you can just come back and expect everyone to forgive you? You know what I think; I think you're all stupid." He gestured around the table and then looked back to me, "Not _everyone _has forgiven you Rose."

That surprised me. Just a month and a half ago, we had that conversation that brought us closer, he seemed happy to have me back. We _hugged_. Why was he so pissed now? "Christian, I thought…I thought you were happy to have me back?"

"Yeah, well I thought so too. I guess I'm not." He went back to playing with his food.

I was hurt, we had become close, and now he was pushing me away. "I…I have to go." I said, standing up. "I'll see you guys later."

"Rose…" Lissa said, looking up at me. I glanced back. "Rose, don't go. Please, ignore him."

"I have things to do Liss." I lied, I had _nothing _to do, and I just didn't want to be here anymore.

I walked away, before anyone else could protest. "Where can I go?" I asked myself. I didn't want to go back to my room, the bruises might appear again and I definitely didn't want to go to the back of the school. I headed toward the courtyard; it was nice there and pretty crowded. No creepy Dimitri hallucinations could stalk me there.

I found a tree in the middle of a grassy spot, walked there and sat down, leaning against the trunk. Looking around, I saw groups of the younger novices. They all looked happy and having a good time. They smiled, and laughed and mucked around.

I felt a pat on my shoulder, and I turned to face who it was. I had no idea who it was. It was a boy, probably around 12 or 13 years old. He was quite short but I didn't really see his face, the shadow was casting over him. "Uh… hi" I said, not knowing what else to say.

"You're Rose Hathaway, aren't you?" He said with excitement.

"Since the last time I checked, yeah, I am." I said.

He laughed a little at this. I didn't realise it was a joke. "I'm Timothy." He said putting out his hand. I shook it.

"Well my friends back there want to ask you something but are too afraid, so I'm doing it for them."

"Um, ok." I said, sitting up straight. I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

"Why did you leave campus?"

"I had things to take care of."

"Was it because of Guardian Belikov?"

Jackpot. I knew he was going to ask something about that. "Kind of" I didn't want to share my personal life with some kid, but I didn't want to be mean either.

"We heard something happened to him, but none of our teachers will tell us. What happened to him?" He asked, curious.

"He…uh," I didn't know if I should tell him. "He left the Academy."

"Why? He was so good. And wasn't he in love with you or something. He wouldn't just leave you, would he?"

I couldn't help but tear up a little. He _was _in love with me and I knew he would never leave me. But well, being a Strigoi, you kind of lose your senses. "He had a family emergency."

"Was he in love with you?" Came another voice. I saw a girl come and stand next to Timothy. She was about his age, with quite long hair.

"Um, yeah." I said, confused, why did they want to know? "Why?"

"Man. You're lucky, the guy's a _god_." She sighed, "I wish I was you."

"Trust me, you're lucky you _aren't_." I said, standing up. Wow, I was a lot taller than both of them.

"Why wouldn't I want to be? You're _Rose Hathaway_, you're like my hero. You've killed so many Strigoi and you haven't even graduated! You have like a total badass hottie to cuddle to. Your mom is like a legend and you're best friends with one of the most important people."

Wow, I really have a status here. _You have a total badass hottie to cuddle to. _I _had _that. Then it occurred to me, why was Lissa one of the most important people? "When you said most important people, what do you mean by that?"

She looked around, and took a step closer to me, bringing Timothy with her. "Okay, but you must promise not to tell _anyone._ Well, yesterday I was walking to my dorm when I heard some of the teachers talking about how the Dragomir princess is next in line for the throne. They said she must be protected at all times and that once the queen is gone, she'll be the new one."

"What!" I accidentally yelled out loud. Lissa? The new queen? There had to be some mistake.

"Shhh. Don't let anyone hear this. I don't even know if I heard it right, but that's what I think I heard."

I couldn't tell anyone? I _had _to tell Lissa. She has every right to know this. "Why do they want Lissa as the new queen?"

"I don't know." She said, "That's all I heard. I heard someone coming so I went to my dorm. But please, if anyone finds out, I'd be screwed."

I smiled, "How could you be if they don't know it was you. You were eavesdropping, they didn't actually tell you. If anyone was to be 'screwed', it would be the teachers." Why would anyone talk about something like that in the elementary dorms? Stupid.

"True that." She said turning back to see her friends, staring at her in aw. "I guess I better go. See you later." And with that she went back to her friends, Timothy following. He'd become really quiet ever since she came. Probably has some kind of crush on her.

"Miss Hathaway."

I turned around to see Alberta standing there, arms crossed over her chest. "You missed training today. Not good."

"Something came up." I said. I didn't want to tell her what that something was. I didn't want to remember it.

"Come with me." She simply said.

We walked around the school grounds, and stopped in front of the gym. She unlocked the doors and walked inside, telling me to come in. As I walked in, some part of me hoped that Dimitri would be sitting in there, waiting for me to come for our training session. To no surprise, he wasn't. He never will again. "What are we doing here?" I asked, trying my best to hide my sudden sadness.

"Training." Alberta said, placing the dummies in the middle.

"What? It's nearly time to go back to the dorms. It's not fair!" I protested. The sadness disappeared and was replaced with frustration.

"You didn't come at the right time, so it's your fault Rose. If you just came to your training, you would be back in your dorm now, getting ready to sleep. It's only an hour, nothing hard for you." She walked to me and handed me a sliver stake.

"But I told you, something came up!"

"I don't care. You are about to graduate Rose—"

"So why does it matter so much then! I've learnt everything already."

"Don't interrupt me. You are going to be Lissa's guardian; you need to be the best. And so, we will train until that day."

"But I'm already the best I can be! What else do I need to learn?" I asked, whining. I was surprised at that. I never whined.

"Not hesitating." She simply said.

Ouch. "Oh." Was all I said and walked over to the dummies.

Alberta came and stood next to me. "Today we will just practise staking the heart as you're not really into training at this time Show me how to do it."

So for the next hour I was showing Alberta how I stake Strigoi in the heart. She gave me tips on how to dodge their blows better and how to kill them quicker. Training turned out to be quite good actually. Once it was finished, I helped her put the dummies away and changed out of my training gear.

"You better be here tomorrow, Rose. No slacking off." She said, when we put the last of the dummies away.

"Fine, fine, I promise I won't slack off."

We got outside and she locked up the gym doors. We were walking to the Novice's dorms when she stopped. I stopped too. "Rose," she said facing me, "how are you coping?"

"Coping with what?"

"You know," she said. I did know and I appreciated the concern but I didn't like talking about it. "With everything."

"I'm fine, seriously." I said, not wanting to meet her eyes, because honestly, I wasn't fine. Nothing was fine.

"No you're not. We can help you Rose. You know that, but you just push us away whenever we offer support."

"Because I don't like talking about it." I answered, walking toward the building, not wanting to listen to any of it anymore.

"Rose, please—"

"Goodnight Alberta." I said, going inside the building and up the stairs to my dorm.

Walking up the stairs, I started feeling guilty. I _was _stubborn. Once I reached my room, I noticed that the door was open slightly. It creeped me out a little. I slowly opened it all the way and made my way inside. No one was in there. Hmm. Oh wait. I smacked myself in the head and went to close the door. I forgot to close it on my way to dinner…smart. I sighed, "Another blonde moment."

I looked around the room, seeing if anything was stolen. Everything seemed to be the same except when I went into the bathroom, the mirror had a crack in it and the straightener I left out was put away…neatly. "What?" I said as I felt the crack. I backed out of the bathroom, "Who…who's here?"

I just kept walking backwards, towards the door. _What's going on _I thought as I bumped into a figure, which startled me. I started to scream, but as I turned around, I saw whom it was. Christian.

"What do you want?" I asked, still hurt by what he'd said earlier. "If you're here to tell me how bad I am as a person and that I should never be forgiven, I'm sorry but I don't have the time."

He ignored my smartass comment. "I came to apologize."

I crossed my arms over my chest "Hmph."

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean to, it's just…" He hesitated. "I'm hurting Rose, a lot. And I don't know what to do."

"So you go off at _me? _I accept your apology, just don't do it again. Please, you were a jerk and I don't like it when you're like that." He wouldn't look at me. "What's wrong, why are you hurting so much?"

"It's everything!" He met my eyes. His eyes were filled with so much sorrow and hurt. What was going on? "It's Lissa, it's this school, it's the whole Moroi society, and it's you!" He walked in and sat on my bed.

_Me? _What did I do? I walked over and sat next to him, "Christian—"

"Rose, don't. Don't tell me how I should go talk to Lissa, please. I need to figure this out on my own."

"I wasn't going to say that. And, if you_ need _to figure it out on your own, why are you here?"

"I came to apologize." He said.

"I already accepted your apology. Christian look, we're all hurting, you're not the only one who is feeling this way."

"Oh really? How would you know, Rose? Oh wait, that's right, you're _Rose Hathaway._" He got frustrated again. "How would you like it if you're one true love kissed someone else? How would _you _feel?"

Wow, Lissa only kissed Aaron and that was under compulsion. "That was compulsion, Christian! She didn't mean to, she never would have done it on her own. Like I said before, she loves you! You told me you'll get to it, I haven't seen that yet. You're more distant than before!" I tried to sound convincing.

"I thought you said you won't talk about it."

"Yeah, well, you're the one who talked of it first."

"Well, it's not just that—"

I cut him off. "What is it then, huh? You're _always _whining! You tell me how much you're hurting from Lissa, yet you don't do anything about it! You have a _choice! _How would you like it if the _love of your life _was turned Strigoi…" The image came back to me. Dimitri being turned, his Strigoi features, the white skin—I snapped out of it.

"Rose, I know what you're going through trust me."

"Then don't tell me how much you're hurting over Lissa! Go and talk to her."

"I need more time." He told me.

"More time for what?" I asked, confused. What did he need more time for?

"To get over that kiss."

I sighed and turned to him. "Go."

"What?"

"Go. Go talk to Lissa; I know you want to be with her. She wants you too. Don't push her away, Christian. Like I said, she loves you and she always will. She's hurting just as much as you are." I stood up and pulled on his arm to get out, "Go!"

"Fine! Just stop doing that." He jerked out of my pull. And straightened his shirt. He started heading for the door but then stopped and faced me again.

"What are you waiting for? Go to her!"

"Thank you, Rose." He smiled at me and left.

I didn't know what the thanking was for. I just stated the obvious. Maybe I reached his senses. I don't know.

I changed into my pj's and slipped into bed. There was one thing I did know. Love hurts.


End file.
